The principal goal of the 7th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium (AMDRS) is to bring together established and developing scientists from the Midwestern states to foster collaborations and to disseminate the current state of knowledge regarding mechanisms of DNA repair and their impact on human diseases. It will continue in the excellent tradition of past Symposia and has three specific goals. The first goal is to gather scientists in the field of DNA repair from principally, but not exclusively, Midwestern states for presentations and discussions of current research in the field. The second goal is to expose students, postdoctoral fellows and younger scientists to the best science in this field and to give them the opportunity to present their work in front of an audience of peers. The third aim is to foster scientific interactions and promote new and ongoing collaborations. The 7th AMDRS will be held on May 28-29, 2005 on the campus of Wayne State University, Detroit, Ml. There will be two keynote speakers who will highlight the current state of knowledge in their field and will set the standard for the conference. There will be three platform sessions devoted to aspects of DNA repair (excision repair, mismatch correction, recombinational repair etc.) and consequences of DNA repair defects to human health. Additionally, there will be a poster session based on submitted abstracts. The platform and poster sessions will provide opportunity to younger developing scientists to present their work in a conference setting and to hear cutting-edge research. Extensive efforts will be made to advertise this conference and to assure participation of women and minority scientists at all levels. This Symposium will provide excellent opportunity to those scientists who are unable to attend conferences on either U.S. coast because of the distance or the cost, to participate in a major conference.